Multi-member pack system for more evenly distributing weight on the upper body and hips

ABSTRACT

A pack system designed to both better distribute weight front and back and transfer some load support to the hips in order to reduce the burden on the back and shoulders. The pack system comprises a back member and a front member releasibly interconnected by shoulder straps and buckles. Each of the back and front members is a large pack having at least one large compartment capable of receiving a significantly large and heavy load such as big text books or the like. The back member is provided with a waist belt terminating in buckles that can be interconnected on the abdominal area of the user so that at least a significant portion of the back member load is supported at the hips to help reduce the burden on the back and shoulders. The back member also has a central lightweight, rigid frame on the inside surface and attached to the waist belt. A number of smaller pockets are also provided for storing smaller objects such as cell phones, calculators, pens, pencils, pads and paper. Extra straps and connectors are provided so that each of the front and back members may be selectively used without the other to provide the system with maximum versatility by reconnecting the shoulder straps and buckles to the extra straps and connectors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of packs used for carrying items stored therein. The invention herein is more specifically related to a pack system that more evenly distributes a weight load on both the back and chest area and onto the hips to avoid the risk of injury in back-only-type packs. This invention, while applicable to all persons who must carry substantial loads over long periods of time, is especially directed to school-age children who often have to carry heavy loads of books and other school-related items in a backpack where such weight is disproportionately localized to the student's shoulders, neck and back.

2. Background Discussion

It is alarming how often the load weight of books and other school material borne by a student's back, shoulders and neck, results in injury to school children. Orthopedic physicians have expressed concern especially in regard to younger children who risk serious physical and developmental problems from the continuous stress of carrying a heavy backpack laden with books, gym clothes, cell phones, computers, pads and pencils, lunch and snacks, drinking water, extra outerwear and on and on. While the experts recommend a limit of about 12% of a child's body weight (i.e., less than 20 lbs for even bigger high school teenagers), some are carrying closer to 30% or more of their body weight. Of equal concern is that in conventional backpacks, substantially all of this weight is on the child's back and neck. They also warn that children, who already have even slight scoliosis, can exacerbate that mild condition into a more pronounced curvature of the spine, especially from wearing heavy and unbalanced backpacks. It would be extremely helpful if there were a pack system which would distribute the backpack weight in a more balanced fashion and also transfer at least some of the load to the hip area.

There are issued U.S. Patents directed to attempts to provide a more balanced load as compared to conventional backpacks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,922 for example discloses the use of a multiple front pocket system for balance. However, such multiple front pockets are too small to carry many items normally carried in the backpack and particularly large textbooks and the like and are therefore of limited use as a solution for school children. Moreover, the manner of their side to side connection is more complex and inconvenient as compared to more conventional school packs. Still further, there is limited versatility in that the front packs cannot be deployed without the backpack and there is no provision for removing the front packs for occasional use of the back pack alone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a pack system designed to both better distribute weight front and back and transfer some load support to the hips in order to reduce the burden on the back and shoulders. In the preferred embodiment described herein, the pack system comprises a back member and a front member releasibly interconnected by shoulder straps and buckles. Each of the back and front members is a large pack having at least one large compartment capable of receiving a significantly large and heavy load such as big text books or the like.

The back member is provided with a waist belt terminating in buckles that can be interconnected on the abdominal area of the user so that at least a significant portion of the back member load is supported at the hips to help reduce the burden on the back and shoulders. The back member also has a central lightweight, rigid frame on the inside surface and attached to the waist belt. A number of smaller pockets are also provided for storing smaller objects such as cell phones, calculators, pens and pencils.

Extra straps and connectors are provided on each of the front and back members so that each can be used independently of the other using shoulder straps that would normally otherwise interconnect the two members. This unique feature provides a degree of versatility not found in known prior art pack systems that are particularly useful to school children who need a balanced load that can be conveniently and frequently removed and installed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be more fully understood hereinafter as a result of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear-side plan view of the back member of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a user side or inside plan view of the back member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front-side plan view of the front member of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an inside user side plan view of the front member of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are three-dimensional views of the preferred embodiments shown being worn by a user for optimal load distribution using the invention hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that FIGS. 1 and 2 show opposite surfaces of a back member 10 and FIGS. 3 and 4 show opposite surfaces of a front member 20, while FIG. 5 shows the front and back members 20, 10 being worn on the chest and back of a user, respectively. Back member 10 is seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 to comprise a pair of shoulder straps 11, each having an adjustment member 31 and terminating in a buckle 18. Front member 20 has a corresponding pair of mating buckles and straps 27 and 28 adjacent opposite ends of a handle 21.

Each of the front and back members 20, 10 comprises a readily accessible large compartment 25, 13. These compartments are both configured to accept and enclose the largest and heaviest of the contents of the pack system. In other words, each of the front and back members constitutes a full size pack capable of containing the large items typically carried by today's young students including the biggest textbooks or laptop computers. These packs also provide other pack features such as pockets 12, 14, 16 shown in FIG. 1 and smaller compartments such as compartments 24 and 26 of FIG. 3.

It will also be noted that back member 10 comprises an integral waist belt 15 having opposed buckles and straps 17 and 29 to be selectively interconnected at the abdomen or waist area of the user to permit a significant fraction of the back member load to be borne by the user's hips instead of the user's shoulders. As seen best in FIG. 2, the waist belt 15 is also joined to a rigid vertical frame member 19 which extends up from the waist belt on the front or inside surface of back member 10 to lend further support to the back member load and to help further transfer support to the waist belt 15.

A significant advantage of the present invention not normally found in pack systems having front and back members, is the ability to separate the two members and re-connect straps to permit either the front or back member to be used alone independently of the other. In this regard, FIG. 2 shows the lower female buckles 35 to receive male buckles 18 when back member 10 is used along. Similarly, front member 20 has extra lower straps 32 with male buckles 34 to mate with buckles 28 when the front member is used alone.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the assembled pack system of FIGS. 1-4 worn by a user in the preferred configuration wherein the entire load is substantially balanced between back member 10 and front member 20 interconnected by releasable shoulder straps 11. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the weight of the back member 10 is at least partially borne at the user's hips by waist belt 15 secured by straps and buckles 17, 29 along the chest or abdomen area of the user. A variety of different smaller pockets (12, 14, 16, 22, 26) are provided, as well as medium size compartments, some of which (24, 26) may be zippered. Various straps and buckles are provided as well, to interconnect the front and backpack members and to provide extra connections to accessory additions (i.e., cell phone, IPOD®, GPS unit, IPAD® unit, etc.) such as side buckles 30 and bottom buckles 34 shown in FIG. 4. A rigid frame member 19 on the inside surface of the back member, provides added stiffness and further helps transfer load to the waist belt 15 for support by the user's hips. Each of the front and back members may be used together as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 or be reconfigured for individual use without requiring the other. This feature is particularly useful to school students who can wear both traveling to and from school but leave one of the front or back members in their locker or homeroom desk and use only the other to go to a particular class.

Having thus disclosed an exemplary embodiment of my invention for the purpose of illustrating the principal inventive features thereof, it will now be evident that the ultimate configuration can vary and have numerous modifications compared to the particular embodiment shown and described herein. Accordingly, the scope hereof is to be limited only by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, which may cover many possible variations as compared to the described embodiment. 

1. A pack system used by a person for carrying items forming a distributed load to be borne by the person's back, shoulders, chest and hips to reduce the risk of injury from supporting the load; the system comprising: a back member having at least one compartment for containing at least some of said items on the back of a person, said back member having an integral waist belt having buckles for being secured around the waist area of the person for engagement with the hips of the person; a front member having at least one compartment for containing at least some of said items on the chest of a person; and a pair of shoulder straps extending between said back member and said front member for supporting a portion of said load on the shoulders of the person, said straps being disconnectable to permit separation of the front and back members from one another.
 2. The pack system recited in claim 1 further comprising a rigid frame member formed in said back member and affixed to said waist belt for transferring at least a portion of said load to said waist belt.
 3. The pack system recited in claim 1 wherein each of said front member and said back member comprises at least one pocket for receiving an additional item of said load.
 4. The pack system recited in claim 1 wherein each of said shoulder straps has a releasable buckle for selectively connecting and disconnecting said shoulder straps from either said back member or said front member.
 5. The pack system recited in claim 1 wherein at least one of said front member and said back member has a handle for carrying the member separated from the pack system.
 6. A books and supplies pack system for school children, the pack system forming a distributed load to be borne by a child's back, shoulders, chest and hips and comprising: a back member having at least one compartment for containing at least some of said books and supplies and having an integral waist belt for transferring at least some of the weight of said load to the child's hips; a front member for transferring a portion of said load to a child's chest area; and a pair of shoulder straps interconnecting said back member and said front member for supporting a portion of said load on a child's shoulders, said shoulder straps being disconnectable from one of said front and back members to separate said members for their selective independent use.
 7. The pack system recited in claim 6 further comprising a rigid frame member formed in said back member and affixed to said waist belt for transferring at least a portion of said load to said waist belt.
 8. The pack system recited in claim 6 wherein each of said front member and said back member comprises at least one pocket for receiving an additional item of said load.
 9. The pack system recited in claim 6 wherein each of said shoulder straps has a releasable buckle for selectively connecting and disconnecting said shoulder straps from either said back member or said front member.
 10. The pack system recited in claim 6 wherein at least one of said front member and said back member has a handle for carrying the member separated from the pack system.
 11. The pack system recited in claim 6 further comprising extra strap connectors on said back and front members respectively for receiving said straps for use of one of said back member and said front member without the other. 